The year was 1987. I was a junior in high school, and obviously, as a junior in high school, you've been there before, or many of you are headed there. You have this moment where you're like, people start asking you what you're gonna do for the rest of your life. And you're 17, and you really have an idea. I mean, for me, I always thought I was gonna be a professional football player. I was the smallest person on campus, so I don't know. I was like, well, I'm maybe I can just kick the ball. Maybe that's that'll be my role, but never even kicked one time in a game or on a field, so like, no, that wasn't. So all of those young age dreams, oh, I'll be a major league baseball player. Yeah, no, that that didn't pan out. And maybe I'll play basketball for the rest of my life. That didn't pan out. And so I remember having a conversation with one of the guys in my dad's church. He was a businessman, and and I I I looked up to him because I I saw a measure of success on his life and the way he attended church and was involved in church. And so I'm watching him from a distance, and then we were we were hanging out, and he it was at some kind of sporting event, and he started asking me what I was gonna do. And I said, I you know, I don't really, I really don't know. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't know if I'm gonna go to college, I don't know what I want to pursue. I I'm just kind of in this space of I'm not sure. And so he just started asking some questions, and and he was like, you really need to like get a get a plan. You need to have a plan, Chuck. You need to really like invest in thinking about it. And he said, and he told me what he did and he where he got his degree from and what he got his degree in. And I thought, man, if he could do that, maybe that is something that I that I could do. And so I started writing down some plans. And my plan was I was gonna go to college and get a marketing degree, and then I was gonna be involved in research and development, and I was gonna make a ton of money, and I was gonna buy a big house and marry a beautiful girl and have a wonderful family and and do amazing things, and I had all of these plans, and and then uh then I graduated and went to college, and then in 1992, I graduated from college with my degree. By the way, I'd met a wonderful girl in that time, and we I graduated in December of '92. We got married in February of 1993, and now it was time for me to get into my career, research and development, make a lot of money. And you know, I told her, Shauna, she she always told me that her mom said, Don't ever marry a pastor. And so I told her, I'm not gonna be a pastor, I'm gonna be in marketing, I'm gonna, and um, I was really honored. It was my plan. But then somewhere after graduating, my plan started getting kind of not looking so great. It wasn't working out, but God had a plan and God ordered our steps. And from Grand Rapids, Michigan, we went to Dallas, Texas, and served at a great church there for seven years, and then from Dallas, we went to Houston, Texas, and served at a great church there for 12 years, and and then we felt this call on our life, and we moved our family here to Oak Park in 2012, and 13 years later, 14 years later, here we are. We're just amazed at all the good things God has done. And what I told this story for is because this is the year that I'm learning again that you can make all your plans, but God's plan is what's gonna prevail. And really, I'm so thankful for God's plan being so much better than my plan. All the things I've got to see and do in our family and be around and be involved in, and just, man, I think about my plan was just such a small idea to what God had in store for my life. So why don't you just turn to your and say, God's got better plans for you than you have for yourself. So we're in week two of this series of make a difference. And last week we talked about Noah, and Noah would tell us that you can make a difference in your family, and you can make a difference in your generation, and you can make a difference for God. And we know that He's Noah's example is that one person really can make a difference. Like God can see through all of the chaos around us and find one person that establishes and lives in the favor of God. And today we're gonna give a shout out to the ladies in the house today. It's not Mother's Day, but it's a day to shout out to the ladies who have stood by us and spoken into us and led us and prayed for us. And man, I always say, like, wherever you find a successful man, you'll find a praying wife and a shocked mother-in-law. Because, listen, we're we're I'm just gonna be honest, as guys, we're not very good on our own until we find a helpmate. And I thank God for my helpmate, and um, who tells me that I can be more patient when I'm driving in a sweet way, who tells me I can you know slow down and enjoy the moment instead of being so tense all the time and gotta get stuff done. But today we're gonna talk about Ruth. And um, Ruth, who is Ruth? Ruth, Ruth was an outsider, she was not from the nation of Israel, she was a Moabite, which would have been of the clan of some of the enemies of God's people. She wasn't royalty, she was not rich, she had, she was a woman of sorrow and grief. She had experienced famine and lost her husband and lost her father-in-law and had family loss all throughout. And yet Ruth reminds us that God's plan for us is better than our plans for us. And I think if she were to actually say it, she would say, God's plan for you is better than your plan for you, so don't give up. Don't give up. And I want to just lean into how I think Ruth would talk to us about making a difference. And the very first thing is this. Ruth would say this: if you want to make a difference, don't let your past hurt keep you from your future home. Ruth 1, verse 1 says, In the days when the judges ruled, there was famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem and Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live in the whole in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech. His wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malan and Kelan. So just setting up the context, this is the family that has left because of famine. Now they're in uh living in the land of Moab. Let's keep reading. They were Ephraithites from Bethlehem of Judah, and they went to Moab and lived there. And now Emelech, his Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons, and they married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And they'd lived there for about 10 years. Both Malan and Kelan also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. And then Naomi hears that the famine in Israel is over and it would be safe for her to return there. And so she gathers up all of her belongings and has a sit-down conversation with Ruth and with Orpah about what the plan would be next. Here's our plan. And what I know is Ruth has experienced a lot of pain, loss, the future doesn't look bright. And hurt is the thing that gets us often to give up in life. And I want to talk about hurt for just a minute because I think sometimes we we are trained to deal with hurt, which by the way, hurt is one of the eight core emotions and feelings that God gives us. So, in the context of those eight emotions, there are seven of them that if you just look at them, they seem like they might have a little bit of a negative vibe. It's things like sadness, it's loneliness, hurt, it's anger, it's fear, uh, it's um uh two others, I can't remember them right now. So eight core, seven of them have kind of a negative connotation. One is called the last one, number eight, is joy. So we think, oh, God gave us the gift of an emotion of joy, but he gives us seven negative emotions. Whoa, but they're not meant to be negative if we learn how to respond. But the problem is our culture teaches us the wrong way to respond in most cases. In fact, we have phrases to help us deal with hurt and pain. It's stuff like, oh, no pain, no gain. You just suppress that pain. Or we have phrases like, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, which sounds like a great, great anthem, but it actually hides the pain, ignores the pain, ignores the hurt. And when you ignore the pain and you ignore the hurt, then you begin, you begin to become, you you, you have this resentment in life. And when you resent things, you're saying things like, I'm not going to hurt, you're going to hurt. And resentment leads to blame, where it's only others are responsible for my hurt. And that leads to revenge, which means I hurt, so you're gonna hurt. And then isolation, which pushes you away from everybody, which means I'm sad, so everybody else should be sad. And so we have all of these ways to hide it, to suppress it, to ignore it, but I'm gonna tell you that's not God's plan for hurt. And hurt, your pain can have a purpose. If you'll just admit it, God can start healing it. In fact, to admit heart hurt is to hope for heart healing. David said this in Psalm 69. He says this I'm hurt and in pain. Give me space for healing in even the mountain air. Just let me find a space to be healed. But I'm confessing my hurt. And I think that's the powerful tool that God has given us is to admit it that there's hurt, that there's something, there's a wound. Hurt means there's a wound there to admit it, to address it, and then to arise from it. Because healing is what helps you get ready to get back into the purpose God has for your life. Back into making a difference again. So if Ruth were here, she would say, listen, don't let your past hurt keep you from your future hope. A lot of us, when we ignore it, we it we suppress it, we hide it, we allow it to stop us in our tracks. And I'm just gonna tell you, if you'll confess it, you'll find your way to healing. The second thing Ruth would say is this if you want to make a difference, hold on to God, hold on in honor to God-ordained relationships. You see, the thing is, the the thing that hurts us the most are people. People say things, do things, act things, think things, project, like people hurt us. But you know what? Even though people hurt us, God has a plan for people to heal us. That's why he says, confess your faults one to another so that you can be healed. We go to God for salvation, but we go to one another for healing. And I just want to just lean in because just because one person hurts you doesn't mean every person's gonna hurt you.

That's right. That's right.

Like we we carry around hurt and we we block the very possibility of the role that people will have in healing us because somebody hurt us. And I just want us to break that down today. Like, no, we're not gonna stop it. We're not gonna run from the one that God sent to refine us because of the ones who tried to ruin us. Naomi was ready to let Ruth go. Naomi's like, listen, I'm going back, you stay here with your people. You and Orpah, go back, you can remarry in your land, having family in your land, but I'm going back to my country. And Orpa's like, check it, I'm out. I'm out. And Ruth is like, no, I'm gonna go with you. Where you go, I'll go. Your people will be my people, your God will be my God. I'm not letting go of you. This is a relationship I know not to let go of. And I think in life sometimes we have hurt, we make decisions, and we let go of the people God put in our life to heal us. Ruth shows us loyalty and leads to legacy, and she shows us difference-making devotion. But watch this, Orpah left, and you know what? Through Orpah's family line comes one of God's, uh comes a literal giant to God's people. An enemy named Goliath comes from the family line through Orpah because she left. And Ruth stayed, and through her line comes a king to represent God's people. It is incredible what will happen if we stay in the relationship God has led us into. Listen, there when you hold on to right relationships, God will birth right results. Because life moves at the speed of relationship, and the people you run with determine the destination you run to. So, what else would Ruth tell us? The third thing Ruth would tell us is this if you want to make a difference, know that when the world overlooks you, God has his eye on you. Ruth was a Moabite, an outsider, had no inheritance, no influence, no reason to be chosen. But that's just how God works. God takes the overlooked and turns them into overcomers. You might not have the pedigree, but I can tell you you have a divine purpose. You might not have all the connections you think you need, but you have a calling on your life. And when the world counts you out, God starts counting you in. Look what happens in Ruth chapter 2, verse 11. It says, The Lord repay, he's talking about Ruth, the Lord repay your work and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. Like what everybody else was overlooking, Ruth, God's like, I see you, I've got my hand on you, I know where you're at, and that's what he has for you, because in favor found Ruth in the field. When Ruth got into the field, she she was seen by a guy, a man named Boaz, who becomes the kinsman redeemer, meaning what Boaz provides for Ruth is the legacy and inheritance that Ruth had lost back in her own land. The fourth thing that Ruth would tell us is this as we close. If you want to make a difference, know that doing right now leads to righteous generations later. That's why parents, doing right now makes a difference in your children's life later. You don't have to be perfect. But listen, you need to help them see how important church is by being in church with your children. You need to help them see how important youth ministry is by getting them to Sunday nights. You need to help them see, like the only way they're gonna learn it is if you set the example for them. And one right decision today and tomorrow and the day after that will lead to a generation of righteousness for years to come. And I want to show this pastor of scripture. Ruth 4, 17, it says, uh, this is what they said. Naomi has a son, and they called him Obed. He was the father of Jesse and the father of David. The father of Jesse and the father of David, which is amazing. Ruth is the one who's through her lineage comes Obed. From Obed comes Jesse, from Jesse comes David, and we know if you run the family line from David, it goes all the way to Jesus. What a legacy, what a gift, what a heritage. Ruth's faithfulness led to a son named Obed. Obed was Jesse, Jesse was David, David to Jesus through one woman's obedience changed the course of eternity for all of us. As we closed, music can come up. I was uh reading this story about Susanna Wesley, just a mom of 19 children. I mean, it was the early 1600s, but 19. The thing is, it wasn't as full of a house as you would think. She actually buried nine of those children in their infancy. She knew brokenness, she knew loss. Her husband traveled all over preaching and was gone many times, so she was home with the kids on her own. But she she made this dedication to be a mom of prayer, and she would pray during the day, and her kids knew that if mom took her apron while she was cooking and preparing for the family, if she took that apron and put it over her head, that meant it was time for mom to pray. And you're not to interrupt mom when she's praying. It was her own tent of meeting. It was like the the holy place in the wilderness for the children of Israel. She would pray. And then she would gather her kids around in the evening and they would sing songs and she would teach them and read from God's word over their life. I mean, she wasn't really, it wasn't a spectacular arena, it wasn't a beautiful house. It was they were doing just enough to get by. But you know what? Out of those children, out of her example she set, two of her sons, one was named Charles Wesley and the other was named John Wesley. And they became became great revivalists in our nation. In fact, birthed the denomination called the United Methodist Church. Back in the day, that was a fiery, fiery, Holy Spirit-filled denomination. And they wrote 1,600 hymns, songs that maybe you would recognize. Hark the Herald Angel Sings. That's one of the songs they wrote, more famous songs. They wrote a song called O for a Thousand Tons to Sing, my great redeemer's praise. What I'm telling you is just one obedient day after another led to generations of proclaiming and declaring God's promise and fulfilling his purpose for generations of the Wesley family. I just want to encourage you today, parent, mom, dad, listen, don't delay in building the example of one right step after another. Don't delay in setting the example of praying with your kids, speaking over their life, getting the word of God out, and just prophesying God's word over their life. We have a prayer that we prayed over our kids when they were younger. And it just would simply be this out of right out of God's word. It's time to go to bed. Do all the things, read a little bit, get them, get the boys in bed. And all right, here's the prayer. You ready to pray? Let's pray. Dear Jesus. Make Evan and Eli, make Ethan, make Eliot, Prince the Nations, ruler of the worlds, an ambassador to kingdoms, a leader of the make them wonderfully, well blessed, and highly favored of the Lord. And they would say that every single night. Every single night. Every single night. And when the when Ethan and Elliot started getting just a little older, they got real, they would get real preachy with wonderfully, well-blessed, highly favored. They would say it in all kinds of preacher voices. But you know what? It just wasn't, it was just us having one moment just to speak over their lives. Hey, you can be a prince to nations, a ruler of the worlds, ambassador of kingdoms, leader of millions. World changers. Once in a lifetime, generational leaders. Just anything we do. We're not perfect, but we took time to just speak over their life, speak into their life. And I'm just gonna tell you what, when you do that in a consistent basis, doing the right thing now leads to generational righteousness later. Because it is a God's promise. When you raise a child on the way he'll go, he will not depart when he's older. And we just stand on that promise. So Ruth is here, she's telling us, listen, you need to know this. Don't let any hurt keep you from your future hope. Don't let go of the right relationships in your life. Don't let go of those relationships. She would tell us, listen, just God's got his eye on you. Don't worry about what everybody else is doing. God's got his eye on you, He knows where you're at. And then she would tell us, like, hey, keep sowing seeds that will bless generations with righteousness for years to come. Can you receive that word today, church?